


A New Adventure

by chersbrat



Category: Cher Lloyd - Fandom, One Direction
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-17
Updated: 2013-03-17
Packaged: 2017-12-05 15:34:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/724887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chersbrat/pseuds/chersbrat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just when Zayn feels like there's no point to living his life anymore, an unexpected knock on his door results in a change of his perspective..</p>
            </blockquote>





	A New Adventure

Every day was the same for Zayn Malik, the most dramatic change in his daily life was probably just an adjustment to his attire. Zayn was a very relaxed guy, never one to really care about what was going on around him. Each day started by slowly sliding out of his bed, eyes barely open. He would make his way down the curved staircase of his flat to sit at the kitchen counter, alone again, the only noise being the creaking of the wooden floor each time he moved. He also had a cup of coffee each morning – never did he ever skip this. He drank it plain and black, no sugar, no cream, just bland and simple, like his life. Before sipping the brewery, he waited patiently for the temperature to drop. He liked it cold, and still. Once his coffee was fully ready and fixed to his unique preference, he took a slow gulp, letting the chilled liquid drip down his throat. Boring, cold, lame, just like he considered himself to be. The only warmth inside Zayn Malik came from his barely beating heart, and the smokey intakes of cigarette fumes he huffed on a regular basis.

Smoking was his kryptonite, a key to bliss. He wasn’t the type to get high or do major drugs, he would just lay on the dusty sofa and inhale the smoke, sometimes chuckling at himself, at his own humility. He felt as if he were living half alive, never going outside, never communicating with others, not even seeing his family over the holidays anymore. He used to ignore all phone calls, but now his phone never rings anyway. Everyone still wonders what went wrong, Zayn used to be a pretty cheery guy. But all of a sudden, he just disconnected himself from the rest of the world. Some say it’s because of his smoking addiction, some say it’s because of insecurity, some say it’s because of anger problems. Nobody knows for sure though, not even Zayn himself. He just felt tired, felt like life was pointless.

One afternoon, when Zayn was blowing more smoke around his small living room, he heard a knock in the door. This had been his first visitor for what seemed like ages, he was very confused as to who it could be. He didn’t talk to anyone and no one talked to him, well, apparently not anymore.

Zayn slowly opened the door, starting by peeping through the crack of an opening. He didn’t see anything then though, so he opened it wider and looked slightly downward. He was now sharing a puzzled gaze with the small girl stood before him, rain pouring down on her saddened face. He didn’t say anything, he just stood and stared. Despite the fact that this girl was dripping wet, and also a total stranger, he genuinely thought she looked beautiful.

Before Zayn could choke out a single word, the girl spoke up.

“ _Can I, maybe, uhm, stay here? Just for, like, a little bit. Please? I’m cold.”_

Her speech was full of stuttering, her eyes burning with vulnerability to a point where it was both awful but somewhat adorable at the same time.

Again, Zayn remained silent, his mind still gad to wrap around the fact that he was experiencing an interaction with another human. He moved slightly to the left and pushed the door open a little wider, allowing the girl to enter. She stepped in without hesitation, but noticeably confused. Her eyes fluttered up and down, examining Zayn from head to toe. She kept her worn jacket on and took a seat on the dusty couch, starting to smell the fumes from Zayn’s cigarettes.

Zayn shut the door with a gentle thud and made his way over towards the girl, raising the tension in the room.

“ _Uh, my name’s Cher by the way. Uh, what about you?”_ Her voice was still shaky but the nerves were starting to settle, her and Zayn were most definitely both glad she had broken the silence.

Zayn was a bit hesitant to respond. It had been so long, he had forgotten what the sound of his own voice sounded like, it’s a surprise he didn’t forget his own name after this long era of loneliness. He swallowed the lump in his throat and introduced himself.

“ _Oh, uh, hi Cher. Nice to, uh, meet you. I’m uh, I’m Zayn.”_

Cher smiled sweetly at the shy look in Zayn’s eyes, causing a delightful grin to spread across his face as well. The first time he had smiled in who knows how long. _“So, erm, did you want to stay the night here or..? I mean, like, it’s quite the storm out there and uh, you’re already, like, frozen.”_ Zayn was clearly concerned for her, his regenerating soul formed a mesmerizing twinkle in his right eye.

“ _Wow, sure, thank you. So much. Uh, I guess I should probably explain myself huh?”_ Cher replied quickly, finishing with an almost sarcastic smirk, but meaning every spoken word.

Zayn furrowed his eyebrows but his lips remained in a smile, nodding his head and letting Cher continue with her story.

“ _Well, basically I was just walking home and this guy starting chasing after me, I guess, since I’m barely 5 foot tall, I seem like an easy target,”_ Cher paused to release a quick giggle, but not allowing herself to get too side tracked. _“And yeah, he basically took my purse so I didn’t have money to get a taxi, seemings as I was now far from my flat. So yeah, thanks for taking me in for the night, means a lot!”_ Cher told the whole thing with a smile on her face, which was surprising to Zayn. He had never been in such a cheerful environment before, it was like Cher was radiating sunshine and brightening up everything around her. It was incredible to him, blissful.

“ _Oh wow, uh, well you’re welcome here, yeah. You can um, sleep in my bed if you want. I don’t mind taking the couch ha.”_ His kind gesture made Cher blush a bit, though she hid her face behind her wavy, damp hair. Zayn was just happy to know she would be warm and protected through the night, something inside of him was starting to cling to her, and it was as if he was living again. Fully.

“ _Oh, you don’t have to. But, thanks.”_ Cher replied with an unpretentious yawn and a grateful stare directly into Zayn’s eyes. _“You’re sure you don’t mind?”_

“ _Positive. Get some rest. I’m off for a cig then I should sleep as well,”_ Zayn answered as he removed himself from his seat and opened a new pack of cigarettes, taking hold of his lighter in his free hand. Cher looked at him, puzzled. Zayn immediately took notice of her concerned expression and questioned her. _“What?”_

“ _Nothing,”_ Cher didn’t hesitate to respond as she averted her eyes. _“I just, I never really understood why people smoke.”_

Zayn returned the confused stare and let out a soft chuckle. _“Some people have good reasons, some have none at all. Personally, it’s a more literal way of watching the past go up in smoke. It’s um, it’s a metaphor.”_

Cher seemed bewildered, she never really took it under consideration that there was a reasonable explanation as to why people would build such a nasty habit. It was starting to make sense now.

“ _So, like, new beginnings. Yeah?”_

“ _Yeah.”_

A bitter-sweet silence fell over the room, the only sounds being Zayn's heavy intakes of the thin oxygen around them. A lingering sense of pain floated around the area, pushing Cher forward to disturb the quiet environment. She broke the heavy silence with another curious question.

“ _Well, that's kind of depressing. Why would you wanna put yourself through that sort of ordeal? It could really hurt you.”_

Zayn's expression was almost sarcastic, and he was visibly annoyed that she even said such a thing. 

“ _That's kind of the point. Hurting just to know you're alive. People like me, we don't feel anything. After all the pain we had dealt with, we **empty** ourselves so we would be emotionless and resistant to the hurtful things in life. But nobody can be immune to the horrific reality, not even myself. It may be hard to believe, but **I'm only human.** ”_

Cher's face dropped, her eyes drained of all hope and filled with a mixture of despair, sympathy, and fury. She took initiative and spoke again.

“ _Tomorrow we're gonna have fun. We're gonna live. I know just where I'm gonna take you!”_

Zayn tried to argue but it was no use.

“ _Cher, I-”_ he was immediately interrupted by Cher's determined voice.

“ _Nope! You said you're only **human** , therefore it's surely not impossible for you to have a good time! Come on, please? I'll be with you!”_ Zayn couldn't help but grin at Cher's caring persistance, so he agreed to her clever yet questionable plan.

“ _Fine, we'll go. But it's time we both got some rest. My room is just up the stairs and to the left, you'll see it.”_

Cher smirked and said goodnight, making her way up the creaky stair case, her victorious stride emphasizing her beautiful figure. Zayn flashed a smile as he lay on the crappy couch, eyes fluttering softly until he fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

~

“ _Wakey wakey!!!!!”_ Zayn was suddenly awoken by Cher's cheerful exclamation, at first it was quite starting, but the two were left in fits of laughter afterwards. _Wow_ , Zayn thought to himself as he stared adoringly at Cher's perfection, _this is gonna be an interesting afternoon._

Cher did not take notice of Zayn's loving admiration, she just kept giggling and served him freshly cooked pancakes and a warm cup of tea. Zayn took a sip of the brew and made an unfamiliar face, startled by the heat and appetizing flavour. 

“ _What is this?”_ he asked, being as polite as he could.

“ _It's tea, do you like it?”_

Zayn took another sip, this time turning his lips into a delightful grin. _“Yeah, I really like it. Thanks.”_ Out of the blue, a feeling came over him and pushed him to ask, _“So... What time do we start this 'fun' thing?”_

Cher's eyes illuminated with joy, _“You remembered.”_

“ _Absolutely. I'm, uh, I'm...”_ Zayn hesitated to admit to his emotions, but he knew he couldn't lie. _“I'm excited.”_ The pair exchanged smiley gazes before heading out the door, the day had just begun.

~

Cher bopped along with the music blaring from the car radio, humming to the beat and rapping some of the words as she drove down the nearly empty street. Zayn sat in the passenger's seat, eyes stilled straight ahead of him. He was noticeably trying not to break his stern look, resisting the laughter building up inside of him. It wasn't easy to hide the fact that he found Cher absolutely adorable.

“ _Whatcha doing mister serious?”_ Cher started a conversation with a friendly joke, winking as she turned down the volume of the music. Zayn turned to face her as a smile formed on his stubbly face.

“ _Trying not to let my eagerness shine through,”_ he gave her an honest answer.

Cher laughed and rolled her eyes, taking one hand off the steering wheel and placing it upon Zayn's lower arm. _“Don't be shy! I can't wait to get there either. Come on, brighten up! Sing along to the radio or something, let's just try to pass the time!”_

Cher turned the sound back up and continued to jam out, but Zayn still hesitated. After a few brief seconds, Zayn was almost singing the words, his voice was low and raspy, very quiet, but it didn't take long for Cher to realize he had joined in.

“ _That's the spirit!”_ Cher encouraged him, staring sweetly. Zayn blushed slightly but didn't stop, his voice was becoming louder and confident. Soon enough, him and Cher were practically screaming out the lyrics, laughing and smiling, feeling _alive_. **Together**.

Before they knew it, they had pulled into a parking lot and were exiting Zayn's small vehicle. 

“ _Here we are,”_ Cher stated as they approached the ticket booth. Yep, they were at an amusement park.

~

The pair walked around for a while before choosing which ride to try out first. They didn't waste any time before boarding the ginormous, monstrous roller coaster.

“ _Zaynnnnnn! This one!”_ Cher urged Zayn to get in line for the intimidating ride, sounding like a five year old child begging her mother for a cookie. Zayn released a soft chortle and accompanied her without saying a word. They sat together in a two-person seat, waiting for the fun to begin. 

Zayn noticed Cher was shaking and her smile was fading, a look of pure concerned spread through out his complexion.

“ _Cher? You okay?”_ he questioned her in a troubled tone. She looked up at him with widened eyes, burning with fear.

“ _Um.. yeah. I'm good. This ride is just a bit, uh, steeper than I thought,”_ she replied, clearly embarrassed.

Zayn grasped onto her hand and whispered reassuring words to calm her down. _“Don't worry, I gotcha. It's gonna be fun, promise.”_

The frightened girl took a deep breath and agreed, clearly soothed by Zayn's presence. It wasn't long after that when the ride started to move and children started to shriek, and Zayn squeezed Cher's fragile hand a bit tighter.

~

By the end of the day, the two youngsters were giggling, smiling, and radiating sunshine all around. Zayn had won a great big teddy bear at the little fair games, Cher had bought them both cotton candy, and they both dreading having to return home. They ended the night with a slow ride on the faris wheel, soaring high above the world and getting to have a real conversation.

Zayn had his arm perched around Cher's neck as they rose to the climax of the ride, but he cut off all contact and moved his hand to grab hold of the teddy. Cher observed as he lifted it up, placing it on his lap.

“ _I finally came up with a name for this little cutie,”_ he stated. _“Cher Bear! And it's all yours.”_

Cher blushed wildly as she accepted Zayn's lovely gift.

“ _Awh, that's, that's amazing. I love it, thank you! I hope you enjoyed today as much as I did,”_ Cher pulled Zayn in for a **warm** embrace to show her appreciation.

Zayn took advantage of this perfect moment to extend their good time, he just really didn't want to say goodbye, and he was almost certain that the feeling was mutual.

“ _Do you, um, do you wanna do something again tomorrow?”_

Cher allowed her eyes to meet up with Zayn's as she gave her response. _“Absolutely.”_

And with that said, Zayn put his arm back around the little lady as she hugged the teddy bear in close. They watched the stars and let their minds wonder, only imagining what lies ahead of them to explore tomorrow.


End file.
